3 Common Roofing Contractor Scams to Avoid

It is common for homeowners to spend money on the maintenance of their homes. Aside from maintenance, the homeowners even have to pay money for repairs and home improvements. The amount homeowners spend for the maintenance, repairs, and improvement of the home is not chump change at all!

Unfortunately, not all homeowners get the good fortune of hiring a reputable roofing contractor. There are some who are unfortunate enough to fall into the scams of rogue contractors. Here are the common scams that untrustworthy roofers in Plymouth Michigan take advantage of and how you should be able to avoid them.

Requires Upfront Payment But Doesn't Show Up

There are roofing contractors that ask their clients for a large sum of money to be paid upfront. It is actually okay for contractors to require down payment. However, paying at a very early stage of the job is a great leap of faith. You should be wary when your roofing contractor asks you for a down payment, especially when it is a large amount. It should raise a red flag if the contractor asks you for an upfront payment that is more than one-thirds of the overall cost of the project.

Bait Them and Switch Contract

Another scam to avoid is where the roofing contractor changes the price of the project right after the contract has been signed. You have to avoid getting lured in by the untrustworthy contractor's very really low bid as this is only their bait to get you to sign a contract with them. They will eventually do the switch after you affix your signature on the contract, which basically means increasing the price of your contract. To avoid this scam, make sure you protect yourself by reading the contract before signing – especially the fine print!

No Paperwork

You should never trust in a contractor without the right paperwork. Indeed, these unlicensed contractors will cost less than the licensed ones so you may think that you can earn big savings from them. However, it is rare for an unlicensed contractor to complete the job in a stellar fashion. You have to make sure to check the license, registrations, and other paperwork of a roofing contractor before you decide to hire them.

These are the common scams that roofing contractors use to one-up their clients. If you do not want to get caught in these pitfalls, be meticulous in choosing a contractor. Always do your research. Once you have the hard facts of how reputable a contractor is, that is the right time you should hire them for the job.